Mechanisms of direct and indirect caloric signalling in memory and prandial behaviour

• Applicant: Dr. Wolf-Dietmar Hütteroth
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology ; Sensory and Behavioural Biology ; Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 371431309

Neuropeptides play a key role in gut/brain signalling, including, but not limited to, an influence on caloric association formation and retrieval. By mediating prandial information to the rest of the organism, gut/brain neuropeptides exert pleiotropic effects throughout the body, which is still poorly understood in its entirety. I will characterise the gut/brain/fat body neuropeptide CCHa2 as a study case to evaluate its diverse organismal roles based on its cellular origin, its putative target cells, and the behavioural properties of identified subcircuits. Correlating detailed light microscopical data of CCHa2-positive neurons and neurons expressing its receptor with existing online 3D-EM databases (Flywire, neuPrint) will provide a template for peptidergic chemoconnectomics and shed some light on the dichotomy of neuromodulators in their synaptic versus paracrine/endocrine signalling action. Furthermore, developmental, odor processing, locomotion and feeding assays will be employed to assign specific behavioural roles in time and space to addressable CCHa2 subcircuits.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Moshe Parnas, Ph.D.